My favorite books of 2023
Every new book I read and loved this year, including fiction, nonfiction, and a little bit of poetry.
I didn’t read half as many books as I wanted to this year (or ever), but of the ones I did, here are my personal favorites. I also didn’t read as much poetry as I usually do thanks to professional obligations to read a lot of prose, so you’ll just have to forgive me.
What were your favorites? Let me know!
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Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. She’s a genius. This would make for an excellent prestige drama on HBO or Apple TV.
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link. I read everything Link writes and so should you. These stories don’t disappoint. Here’s a free preview courtesy of Random House.
The New Naturals by Gabriel Bump. A grieving Massachusetts couple builds an underground utopia in Bump’s brilliant second novel.
Above Ground by Clint Smith. For Esquire, I spoke with Smith about parenthood and poetry.
Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter. Etter’s fiction is one of a kind, and I think I enjoyed this even more than The Book of X?
Open Throat by Henry Hoke. A 116-page novel written from the perspective of a mountain lion prowling the hills above Hollywood.
Ice by Amy Brady. I had no idea how much ice-on-demand changed the world.
Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling. I won’t say more than “a woman named Rose is sent to spy on a secretive American project in northern Canada called Camp Zero.”
The Men Can't Be Saved by Ben Purkert. For Esquire, I spoke with Purkert about writing a 21st-century Mad Men.
All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky. A Lynchian novel about a Los Angeles woman whose sister goes missing after a wild night.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle. A clever eldritch Western from the author of The Changeling.
Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine. For the Chicago Reader, I profiled Fine for the release of this dark Venetian fantasy.
Mobility by Lydia Kiesling. Check out my “behind the book” feature with Lydia, her editor, and cover designer.
Extended Stay by Juan Martinez. For fans of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, a brilliant thriller set in a haunted Nevada motel.
The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud. My new all-time favorite novel set on the planet Mars (sorry, Kim Stanley Robinson). I read this in January and I’m still thinking about it.
The Quickening by Elizabeth Rush. I loved going “behind the book” with Rush, her editor, and her cover designer for The Frontlist.
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai. The Platonic ideal of a smart campus thriller.
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei. Another great “behind the book” feature with Kitasei, her agent, and her editor.
The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon. I agree with David Mitchell, this is Hemon’s masterpiece.
The Best Possible Experience by Nishanth Injam. Moving short stories set in India and its diaspora.
Trace Evidence by Charif Shanahan. Powerful poems that made me see the world differently.
This Is Salvaged by Vauhini Vara. A great collection of stories from the author of The Immortal King Rao.
The Wager by David Grann. Grann is still really good at this narrative nonfiction stuff.
The Possibility of Life by Jaime Green. The best nonfiction book about alien life I’ve ever read.
The Good Enough Job by Simone Stolzoff. Changed my perspective on my career.
The Last Catastrophe by Allegra Hyde. All of Hyde’s fiction is must-read material (especially when it’s hopeful speculative fiction about the future).
From Dust to Stardust by Kathleen Rooney. Best novel of the year set in Chicago, and an all-time great.
The Caretaker by Ron Rash. His best novel since Serena, in my opinion.
The Weeds by Katie Simpson Smith. Two women, separated by a century, studying plants in the Roman Colosseum.
Lost Places by Sarah Pinsker. Another stellar story collection from Small Beer Press.
Great books from last year I read in 2023
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. I am OBSESSED with this novel. Haven’t devoured a thriller like this since I was a teenager reading Michael Crichton.
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker. A slim Gothic masterpiece about a girl who grows up in a Scottish castle and cares more about books and animals than people (first pubbed in 1991).
The Anchored World by Jasmine Sawers. Nobody does speculative hybrid fiction like Rose Metal Press.
Coming soon to The Frontlist
My big 2024 book preview, and new exclusive behind-the-book Q&As with authors, editors, agents, and cover designers.